50th anniversary

Radio lab

Have a question for Fermilab? Tune in to a Fermilab frequency over the next two weeks.

In 1975, John O'Meara and his daughter Sue placed third, with their time of 63 minutes, 16 seconds. Photo: Fermilab

Sept. 30, 1979, about 1:45 p.m.: SNAP!! Gerd Hartner, in the bow of his canoe at the race starting position, dipped his paddle in the water, gave a mighty first pull and, to his astonishment, broke it in half.

It was 1972, and the Meson Lab was just working on its first beam transport. As I sat and fiddled with the MAC-16 control computer to see what it would do, I looked up to see a gentleman walking towards me wearing a beret and wearing a top coat.

Fermilab on display

The national laboratory opened usually inaccessible areas of its campus to thousands of visitors to celebrate 50 years of discovery.